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its not 3/4", its only like maybe 1/8". its just individual wood planks with tongue and groove edges with stain and poly on the top.
Jaz, he doesnt owe me anything but if he is just going to be a pain he shouldnt answer. What i am referring to IS wood. Its like particleboard that is finished to look like hardwood, but its actually a type of particleboard. It is wood, its just not hardwood. When you say "laminate" people think linoleum and its not linoleum. its not vinyl, its not plastic. its wood pieces glued together with a picture of hardwood on top with a wear layer. Feels like wood, looks like wood, but nowhere near as strong as wood.

Neverenoughtool, it is extremely easy to tell. The stuff im wanting to install is real hardwood, it just was a previously owned selection and wherever my fiance bought it from didnt package it in the original manufacturer's box, if they even knew what brand it was. but i know its real wood

Firsttimeremode,
When I think of real wood flooring, I think of solid wood that gets nailed down. When i think laminate wood flooring, i think of the stuff i put in my parents house that was click and lock floating flooring. It has a picture of wood grain on it that is not wood and it is a fiberboard base. To me, It sounds like you have a type of engineered wood flooring. I recently went shopping and bought some for a room in our house. I saw two types of engineered wood flooring - a plywood type and a chipboard/particleboard type. They both have a real wood veneer that is stained. This is what it sounds like you have. They have regular tongue and groove assembly instead of the click and lock assembly. I bought mine new and the guys said it can be floated by glueing all edges together as I laid it. If there is a way to take a pic of the top and sides ( to see construction of plank) and upload it, that would help a lot. I am not a pro. flooring person, just somebody who has been where you are with second hand planks. By the way, I will never get second hand flooring again unless it is solid wood. Too much of a pain.

I know we're beating a dead horse now,but at first, by your 1st post I thought you had engineered wood flooring, now I have no idea cuz, you said;

Quote:

Originally Posted by firstimeremode

What i am referring to IS wood. Its like particleboard that is finished to look like hardwood, but its actually a type of particleboard. It is wood, its just not hardwood. When you say "laminate" people think linoleum and its not linoleum. its not vinyl, its not plastic. its wood pieces glued together with a picture of hardwood on top with a wear layer. Feels like wood, looks like wood, but nowhere near as strong as wood.

That paragraph is full of contradictions, so I don't know cuz I can't see it from here.

You need to make an effort to determine what it is, who made it and therefore get directions from them either in writing or their web site. There is not just one way to install these floors, every manufacturer has specific instructions.

when i turn the plank over, it looks like it was cut right out of a tree trunk. in fact, loading it into the house actually gave me a splinter. Laminate floating locking flooring will never give you a splinter because there arent any loose wood particles, its all glued together. it is 1/8" thick, raw wood bottom and the top is sanded smooth, stained, and covered in polyurethane. Of course the poly is probably from the previous owner, but still. its real wood, but it doesnt have to be nailed down, and obviously wasnt unless they nailed it down with thumbtack sized nails, because there are no holes in any of the planks. Plus laminate usually has two or three planks on one piece, and its usualy about a foot wide and three feet long. these are all different lengths, from about 1' all the way to about 7', and they are all the same width, which is about 4" without the tongue part

For Pete's sake.... that paragraph is referring to laminate, which is chipboard covered with a picture of hardwood. I know where THAT came from.

I dont know where my HARDWOOD came from. Seriously, go to Lowe's and go to the aisle of prefinished wood flooring. Look at some of the examples, and you will see what im talking about. im not asking about the laminate, i know what it is, how to find it, how to install it. Im asking about the HARD WOOD. what about that do you people not understand?

you can all stop responding. For all the help i got out of this thread i might as well have just done it and seen what happened. i guess i will just try to install it and hope for the best, since apparently nobody here understands what hardwood is.

you can all stop responding. For all the help i got out of this thread i might as well have just done it and seen what happened. i guess i will just try to install it and hope for the best, since apparently nobody here understands what hardwood is.

That statement is so a** backwards. We know what hardwood is. We know what laminate is. We also know you have no idea what you've got and your efforts to describe it only confuses people.

You now say that statement refers to laminate. Why are you referring to laminate. Just describe what you've got now. Also, what does Lowes have to do with this? Did you buy it there?

No description, no pics, no ID and by bad luck my crystal ball is not working today. YIKES

its not 3/4", its only like maybe 1/8". its just individual wood planks with tongue and groove edges with stain and poly on the top.
Jaz, he doesnt owe me anything but if he is just going to be a pain he shouldnt answer. What i am referring to IS wood. Its like particleboard that is finished to look like hardwood, but its actually a type of particleboard. It is wood, its just not hardwood. When you say "laminate" people think linoleum and its not linoleum. its not vinyl, its not plastic. its wood pieces glued together with a picture of hardwood on top with a wear layer. Feels like wood, looks like wood, but nowhere near as strong as wood.

On the outside chance the bees in your bonnet are not stirred up enough I'd like to point out that when people say laminate, most people DO NOT think linoleum.
Linoleum is a natural product in a class all its own.
It is not laminate
It is not vinyl

firsttimeremode:It would have been very helpful if you had posted pictures of the flooring product that you are writing about: top view, side views and bottom as well. You would be amazed at how helpful DIY chatroom posters can be. There are experts from practically every trade and experienced do it yourselfers as well. Sometimes the discussions can be a little heated but people are generally pretty civil here. Remember, no one gets paid to help you unlike the guys with the orange aprons at the big box store. And the advice here is generally much better than you'd get anywhere else. Good luck with your flooring project.

you can all stop responding. For all the help i got out of this thread i might as well have just done it and seen what happened. i guess i will just try to install it and hope for the best, since apparently nobody here understands what hardwood is.

Well,since i've only been working with hard woods for 60 some years,and have never seen hard wood flooring 1/8 inch thick,tongue and groove,would you be so kind as to post a picture of said flooring,so i'll be able to sleep tonight.

You are absolutely no help. If it had come in a box with instructions, i wouldnt be here. I dont know where my fiance got it, but its just the planks. And i can tell it was previously installed somewhere, and there is no glue residue or nail holes, so its obviously a floating floor. I guess i will just attempt to install it the same way as the laminate and hope for the best.

firsttimeremode,

You should be able to tell by the shape of the tongue/groove if it is designed to be a glueless locking hardwood. They do exist in two varieties:

1. engineered locking hardwood
2. HDF locking hardwood.

Nevertheless, the installation should be similar to the laminates that you have done in the past. Most floating no glue floors utilize two patented locking mechanisms, the most prevalent being Uniclic.

Although there is no substitute for the actual manufacturer's installation instructions,If the tongue and groove looks like what is depicted in the video on this page, then it may serve as an installation guide for you.

****personal website links are not allowed by newbies, and rarely by regular members, please stop****